Tactical strategies and advice for social poker success....
If friends, readers or fellow players know you have anything at all to do with giving advice on poker, they usually ask the same sort of inevitable and understandable questions. But once in a while a nugget shows up in your panning tray that packs the same rush as pocket rockets.
NOT SO FREQUENTLY ASKED POKER QUESTION Q: As a single individual and a bit of a loner I’ve been playing online poker on my own for almost five years now and I’ve never played in a live social game. I’ve just moved home into a nice new area and been asked to go for a game Saturday night at one of the neighbours. Any tips? A: This may be my favourite question ever. Usually your situation would be the reverse. First thing would be to wear more than your y-fronts. Shave. Especially under your arms if you’re planning on only upgrading to wearing a vest. My advice applies to male or female players because this is a politically correct column as anyone who reads it will know. More seriously, watch your body language and your facial reactions. Don’t look at your hole cards until you’ve watched everyone at the table look at their cards first. You’ve got to learn fast about the wonderful new world of blindingly obvious “tells” that you don’t get online. Whereas dress sense online doesn’t have to be subtle and spotting “tells” does, the opposites are true socially. My personal favourite trick when entering a social game where nobody knows me is to make a point of looking at my hole cards at least three or four times whilst waiting to bet. Most ordinary social players will interpret this as the gesture of a beginner. Just what you want them to think for the first few hands. Finally, and this could be crucial if the room is open plan and you’re hoping for another invite: Don’t get as engrossed in the game as you do online, feel the call of nature, and totter off blindly towards the nearest sink.
AMAZING POKER FACT It’s the 2002 World Series of Poker and a guy called John Shipley is up against arguably the best poker player in the world, Phil Ivey. It’s day two of the tournament and Ivey is 50/1 on to win the hand. Shipley lands four aces (odds of that happening are close to 1000 to 1) and wins the hand. He continues the momentum all the way to the final table where the $2,000,000 1st prize seems to have his name all over it. It doesn’t! At this level, the emotional roller coaster is so dynamic you’re in danger of mental whiplash. Welcome to the reality of the World Series of Poker and good luck if you’ve won your way through to playing at this year’s WSOP.
